


Somebody That I Used To Know

by stolenkisses (thesonder)



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Chaos, Doctor/Companion Friendship, Episode: s06e07 A Good Man Goes to War, Episode: s10e03 Thin Ice, F/M, Fluff, Fun, How Do I Tag, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I'm Bad At Tagging, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:01:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28385178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesonder/pseuds/stolenkisses
Summary: River Song, in Series 6 Episode 7, ‘A Good Man Goes To War’: “The Doctor took me ice skating on the River Thames in 1814, the last of the great Frost Fairs.”The Doctor in Series 10 Episode 4, ‘Thin Ice’: “We’re on the Thames, the last great Frost Fair, 1814. February the 4th.”The Twelfth Doctor is mourning River, and the TARDIS knows. So naturally, she brings him back to one of his happiest memories with her, one of River’s birthdays, when she and the Eleventh Doctor went skating on the Thames. The Twelfth Doctor can try to avoid them at all costs, but in the end, something inexplicable would always bring him and River together. And this time is no different.
Relationships: Eleventh Doctor/River Song, The Doctor/River Song, Twelfth Doctor/River Song
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	Somebody That I Used To Know

**Author's Note:**

> Not my first time writing DW, but my first time publishing it. I noticed the parallels in the two episodes and just had to write them. It's canon that both Doctors and River were there at that time, so I just played around with it a little. Anyway, hope you enjoy.

From the moment he steps out of the TARDIS doors and onto crunchy ice, the Doctor knows something is off. The smell of the air, the chill of it on his face, and how it makes his eyes water a little, the palpable excitement carried on it across the crowds of people, is very, very familiar. Too familiar. And the Doctor doesn’t like it.  
Next to him, Bill opens her mouth to ask questions, but the Doctor holds a finger up to her lips to shut her up, still trying to pinpoint why this place is so familiar to him. There are millions of places he has been too, many of them more than once, but this one feels poignant in his heart, and he is determined to find out why.  
With Bill following to him, he turns on his feet and enters back into the TARDIS, intent on finding out where this audacious machine has taken him this time. When Bill enters the doorway and walks to the console, the Doctor is already standing over it, hands on either side of the navigation panel as he stares reproachfully down at the constellation they are located in, watching as the TARDIS zooms further in to the solar system, the planet, the country, and then the place.  
_Of course. So that’s why it’s so familiar._  
The Doctor pushes a button to project their intricate location onto one of the swinging screens as he talks to Bill.  
“You never said we could travel to parallel worlds.” she says.  
“Not a parallel world.” the Doctor counters. Just… a long time ago.  
“But that’s London.” Bill argues. She’s not wrong. The ringing of St Paul’s outside had given that much away to him.  
The Doctor pulls the swinging screen round and gestures to the map of their exact location “Our London.”  
He moves away from the screen, round the console and past Bill. “We’re on the Thames, the last great Frost Fair, 1814.” he explains. Of course he has been here before. “February the 4th.” he says a little fondly, the memory of this day particularly bittersweet.  
He remembers it as if it were yesterday. His previous self, dark hair flopping over his forehead and eyes alive with a childlike ecstasy. The way he had bounded out of the TARDIS in Stormcage Containment Facility, grabbed River by the hand and led her hand in hand out of her prison cell and into the TARDIS, back in time to this specific moment. 1814, the frozen River Thames. Her birthday. They had run around each of the stalls and events, both tripping in their excitement, and the laughter had flowed so easily between them. He still remembered the taste of her lips, sweet from the rock candy sold on a stall three rows down. All the memories hurts now, with the knowledge that he will never get to see her again.  
Or… maybe he _will._  
The TARDIS brought him here for a reason. She knows, and as much as the Doctor hates it, he has to admit, she was right. Still doesn’t make him any less mad though. He decides not to say anything to Bill, as the story is far too long and would probably involve multiple flowcharts, but there is no question as to whether or not he will stay. He has to. For the tiny, almost impossible chance of seeing River again. He has to try.  
“Hang on,” Bill says, breaking him from his reverie. “Why aren’t we home? Can’t you steer this?”  
The Doctor moves around the TARDIS controls, having now very emphatically made the decision to stay. How could he not?  
“I told you, you don’t steer the TARDIS, you reason with it.” The Doctor explains to Bill. And there is certainly no reasoning with her this time.  
“How?” Bill asks, following him round the console as he reaches the handbrake.  
“Unsuccessfully, most of the time.” He pulls the handbrake round as they take off again. “She’s a bad girl, this one.”  
The TARDIS begins its warping echo as they travel from one spot to the next.  
“Always looking for trouble.”  
Moments later, the TARDIS lands on the bridge above the Thames, having moved only 50 metres or so from where they had last landed, with the addition of the height between the surface of the Thames and this bridge. The Doctor opens the doors and steps back out, into the icy air and onto the bridge that overlooks the great Frost Fair. A strange kind of exhilaration fills him as he gazes out over the rows and rows of stalls, tents, boxes and crates and crowds of people filling the frozen river. _River._  
The Doctor sighs a little as he looks out, then turns sharply back to Bill standing in the doorway of the TARDIS. “Last day before the thaw. Thought I’d better find a more reliable parking spot.”  
“Wait, you wanna go out there?” Bill says doubtfully.  
Of course he does. River is out there.  
“You don’t?” the Doctor questions.  
“It’s 1814.” Bill points to her face. “Melanin.”  
“Yes?” the Doctor says, still confused.  
“Slavery is still totally a thing.” she says pointedly, stepping a little out of the TARDIS.  
The Doctor turns to the fair and then back again as it clicks. “Yes, it is.” he says disappointedly.  
“It might be, like, dangerous out there.” Bill expresses concernedly.  
The Doctor agrees. “Definitely dangerous.”  
“So, how do we stay out of trouble?”  
The Doctor shrugs. “Well, I'm not the right person to ask.” No, definitely not.  
“Okay,” Bill says slightly exasperated. “When you go somewhere dangerous, what do you take?”  
The Doctor points back inside the TARDIS. “First door on the left, second right, under the stairs, past the bins, fifth door on the left.” He directs her with his hands as he talks.  
“What's there?”  
“The wardrobe. Pick a dress.” The Doctor says mischievously.  
Bill smiles. “So the TARDIS has dresses and likes a bit of trouble? Yeah. I think I'm low-key in love with her.”  
“Me too.” The Doctor smiles. Very much so. Despite how much he hates her for bringing him here, he also kinds of loves her for it. She knows him too well.  
Bill chuckles and heads back inside the TARDIS, while the Doctor turns back to the fair, his eyes already trained to look out for blonde curls, a second TARDIS, perhaps a couple running up and down the rows.  
Just then, a vendor with a basket of vegetables on his shoulder nearly collides with the Doctor.  
“Watch out, sir!” he cries, and the Doctor dodges to avoid him, following Bill back inside the TARDIS.  
Around ten minutes later, Bill and the Doctor exit the TARDIS in slightly more appropriate attire, ruffled, layered dresses and a suit with a top hat for the Doctor. Anticipation makes the Doctor’s hearts beat faster, and he attempts to calm himself. There is no guarantee, absolutely none, that he will see River and his former self here. Absolutely none.  
But there is a chance.  
The Doctor and Bill make their way down the stairs, past the little girl to whom the Doctor gives his hat, and onto the frozen ice. Bill is hesitant, but the Doctor jumps right into the ice, having been here before. He knows this place, and that very fact does something inexplicable to his emotions.  
The ice is packed with people, children running back and forth, vendors shouting over the hubbub. The Doctor can see little swing boats, and the smell of hot cooking meats wafts over the crowds, infusing them with intense excitement.  
The Doctor guides Bill through the stalls, a knowing smile on his face as he watches her pull disgusted expressions at the ox cheeks, Lapland muttons and sheep hearts being paraded all around them. When they meet again after a brief split, the Doctor holds up a curled piece of animal meat on a skewer to Bill.  
“Oh, go on. Try this, at least.” he encourages, holding it out to her.  
“Ugh!” Bill exclaims.  
“It’s my favourite.”  
“Your favourite? You’ve been here before?” Bill asks him, and the Doctor struggles not to a smile a little. If only she knew.  
“Oh yeah, a few times.” he says, not giving too much away.  
The Doctor and Bill then begin to make their way through the many attractions, stopping to watch sword swallowers and acrobats, the Doctor constantly keeping his eye out for the woman he loves.  
And for the first time in a long time, he finds himself enjoying himself, smiling and joking around with Bill. It’s the most fun he has had in a while. And nothing bad has popped up to distract him from his main mission either.  
He and Bill explore further down the ice, to where tents are filled with more entertainment, boules and bowling, which both of them take part in in turn. Beyond the tents, there lies a large patch of ice left clear, and the Doctor glimpses figures skating across it, twirling and gliding across the ice.  
Someone taps him on the shoulder, and he turns to see Bill with a pie in her hand, which she hands to the Doctor. He takes it, looking at her questioningly.  
“I won it. Turns out I'm better and scoring hoops than I thought.” She smiles widely, and the Doctor mirrors it, taking a bite out of the pie she has given him.  
Just then, he hears a laugh, and it’s like his entire body stops.  
He recognizes that laugh. He would recognize it anywhere. The Doctor whirls around, and hears it again, coming from straight up ahead, in the direction of the clear ice where figures skate. Without explanation, he ditches Bill, running towards it and dipping through the gaps between tents until he finally reaches the place where he had heard the sound. There, he stops, and looks out onto the rink, where the people skate, searching.  
It is only when he hears Bill’s panting as she finally catches up with him, that he sees her. Out on the ice, quite far out, she wears that dress that he had found for her in the TARDIS wardrobe. Her face is broken out in a wide smile, as she looks at – the Doctor’s eyes follow her gaze to find – his past self, young and baby- faced, holding her hand with a smile equally as wide, as he guides her across the ice. They both wear ice skates, the metal scraping the ice as they move, spinning and wobbling a little on their unsteady feet.  
The Doctor stares at them, transfixed. It has been so long since he saw her face. River’s.  
She is young, but not as young as he has seen her. And yet her smile is just as bright. The Doctor’s throat tightens as he watches her, just so… grateful to be able to lay his eyes on her again.  
Just then, River slips on the ice, and his past self, the Eleventh Doctor, swoops to catch her, holding her tight in his arms as she laughs hysterically at her own blunder. The other Doctor then hauls her back to her feet, but River’s hands stay held onto his arms. They both look at each other, and the Doctor’s hearts hurt because he remembers just how it feels to have her look at him that way.  
Bill looks once from the Doctor to this woman on the ice to whom he stares at, mesmerized, and then back again. Then she recognizes her.  
“Doctor, isn’t that the woman on your desk? The one in the photo?” she asks him.  
The Doctor’s reply is a murmur, as he struggle to form an explanation in words, his head full of pure raw emotion. “Yes.”  
“But Doctor… isn’t she dead?” Bill asks sensitively, and expands when the Doctor does not answer. “When we were talking about whether photos of the dead help… her photo was on your desk. I just assumed…”  
The Doctor still stays resolutely silent, his eyes on River as she starts skating again, steadied by the other Doctor who holds her hand. Her hair, her eyes, her smile, the wholeness of her, all here. And he just looks. He never thought he would get to see her again. And here she is.   
She doesn’t know him yet. She is young. She still thinks he only has eleven faces. She would never recognize him.  
An idea starts forming in the Doctor’s head.  
“Go and say hi.” Bill says.  
The Doctor whirls to face her, finally broken from his haze of shock. “What?”  
“Go and say hi. You know her. Just go and say hi.”  
“Bill… it’s complicated.” he says, but he is already forming a plan in his head, unbeknownst to Bill.  
“Oh- wait. No! I know. Ripples." Bill hastens to correct herself. "You could change, like, tons of stuff in the future. Second thoughts, don’t do it. Good idea.” Bill changes her mind, giving him a thumbs up.  
The Doctor cringes. Well now this makes what he’s planning to do a lot harder. “Bill, it’s tricky. Just trust me. She doesn’t recognize me right now.” he explains somewhat vaguely, looking back to see River on the ice.  
The Eleventh Doctor is saying something to her, and she is nodding. Then the Eleventh Doctor breaks away from her and walks away, towards a stall to which rich smoke is rising from. This is his chance.  
The Doctor makes a move towards River, ignoring Bill’s panicked shouts, and moves out onto the ice. He straightens up, looking straight ahead and attempts to look inconspicuous.  
His hearts begin to beat faster the nearer he gets to River, as she waits on the ice for the other, younger Doctor to return.  
When he reaches her, he trips, deliberately, and falls towards her, stumbling as he tries to regain his ‘lost’ balance. River instinctively grabs onto him, pulling him up to stop him falling flat on his face, all in one swift movement that takes just a second.  
“Ever so sorry.” The Doctor stammers, mumbling hasty apologies as he uses River to steady himself and makes the mistake of looking up into her face, where his words instantly die in his mouth.  
He never could have anticipated what it would be look to be this close to her again, and as a consequence he has fallen silent, gazing in rapt awe at River’s face, which is stricken with confusion.  
“Uh… are you alright?” she asks the stranger awkwardly as the Doctor stares at her.  
Embarrassed, the Doctor shakes himself out of his trance and clears his throat. “Um, yes. Yes, you just… you look like somebody I used to know.”  
She laughs, and the Doctor’s hearts dance in his chest at the sound. He had made her laugh.  
“That’s more likely than you’d think.” she smiles, releasing the Doctors arms now that he is back on his feet.  
The Doctor laughs lightly along with her, still half in a dream state, so amazed that he actually found her again. “Yes.”  
After a brief pause, he clears his throat again. “Well, sorry again.” And then he walks slowly away, back to whence he came and towards an incredibly anxious looking Bill.  
“What the hell did you do that for?” she hisses as they walk away from the scene.  
“I had to."   
Bill gives him a look.   
"Oh, it was fine. Just trust me, she won’t remember a thing.” The Doctor reassures bill.  
And sure enough, he is right. When the Eleventh Doctor eventually returns to River on the ice rink with two sticks of warm honeycomb in each hand, River has already forgotten the encounter. The two laugh together, both chewing on their sticks of honeycomb, and the only hint that two Doctors had ever been here, is the warp of the TARDIS that echoes through the air as it dematerializes, carrying Bill and the older Doctor away and back into outer space.  
River hears the warp as her and the younger Doctor head back into the throng of people, and turns quickly in a circle to see where it comes from. Then she sees it, the blue TARDIS fading, disappearing from sight on the bridge just above them. But before she can grab the Eleventh Doctor’s attention, it is gone, as if it was never there.  
And that was the last the Doctor saw of River. One stolen interaction behind a hidden face. One stolen glance, one stolen touch.  
But isn’t that what their love always was?  
Bill never stops asking about the woman, not for the rest of time. But the Doctor never tells her, and refuses to divulge anything, every time.  
Their time together is and will always be only theirs to tell, and it will remain a secret forever.


End file.
